I'll Take Care
by Broken.Bird.Nightingale
Summary: Everyone's favorite lionhearted gunblader isn't feeling well and he's oh-so intent on riding it out alone, so he hides it behind his stoic mask as usual. But of course, Cloud notices something wrong with him. Oh, the fluffy angst ensues. Oneshot, slight Strifehart shounen-ai/yaoi if you squint.


Disclaimer: Now if I owned anything relating to KH, Cloud and Leon would be in it way more and have a lot more scenes together, and Axel and Marluxia would have a great friendship.

A/N: So hi. Have a fanfic.

Warnings: Yaoi/shounen-ai if you want, or just friendship. I prefer the yaoi way of thinking. Also, slight OOC-ness from both the Strife boy and the lionhearted Commander. Because, I feel like Squall would be the most adorable little thing if he's delirious when he's ill.

* * *

The clang of blade hitting blade resonated through the forest clearing, the soft sound echoing into the morning sky. Again and again the metallic sound rang into the air, piercing the cold in an almost rhythmic way.

The gunblader twisted in a lacking spin-uppercut, cursing under his breath as his sparring partner easily blocked it with his buster sword.

"You already tired, Leon?"

"Worry about yourself, Cloud."

The blond frowned at the brunet's defiance. It was only forty minutes into the daily sparring routine. He was _never_ this slow until at least a few hours in.

Leon took this slight hesitation from Cloud and lunged at him, spinning up into a feigned kick and downward slash. The other merely used the slowness from his partner and sidestepped away. The brunet let out an annoyed growl. "Stop going easy!"

"You don't look well, Leon…" Cloud ducked under a sloppy slash of the gunblade. "I don't want you to continue if you're getting ill,"

Leon let out a frustrated growl, bringing his weapon against Cloud's Buster sword. "I'm not ill. I'm fine."

Cloud pushed him off his blade and sighed. With a scowl he spun behind him and sunk to the ground, kicking Leon's feet out from under him. It made him so mad that he knew so little about this scarred, brown-haired mercenary he considered a friend.

Normally, the stubborn sparring partner would use the falling momentum to hop into a back-handspring – just what Cloud was expecting from him. But instead, Leon just kept falling, hitting the ground with a hard, dull thud that sounded rather painful.

Air forced out of Leon's lungs as he landed on his back, and he gasped at the loss of breath. He coughed, jaw clenching tightly at the sudden suffocating sensation.

Cloud darted to his side, pulling his friend into a sitting position. "Leon?! I'm sorry; you always catch yourself, I didn't think you'd fall. You're not hurt right - ?"

Leon gripped his chest as he finally sucked in a breath, coughing heavily. "'s fine, m'fine," he panted warily.

"Leon, what's wrong? You never screw up that badly. You've been out of it all morning,"

The scarred brunet closed his silver-blue eyes, gritting his teeth. "I'm fine, Strife. Worry about yourself." he repeated quietly.

Cloud stared at him, blue eyes showing his slight frustration and obvious worry. _Damn_ it pissed him off when he'd close off like that…

"I'm just tired. Calm down…" the gunblader shifted uncomfortably as if reading the other man's thoughts, and forced himself up with a hitched breath. "Just need a nap…"

Seeing this was clearly the only thing he was going to get from him, Cloud sighed. "…alright. Whatever. Go sleep. I'll wake you up to eat."

Leon said nothing, but nodded. He picked up his gunblade and turned, limping tiredly back towards home. His movements were even more sluggish, and he looked to be in pain with each step.

The blond stared after him, blue eyes narrowed in worry. It was clear he wasn't well. But why so suddenly? He was fine yesterday and the day before. Then again… he _did_ stop sparring early and he _did_ skip dinner last night, and before that he went to bed really early… why hadn't he thought that something was up? Leon was a man of routine, and he'd been breaking said routine in small bits each day this week.

Cloud huffed in frustration, tailing after his friend back to the house. Might as well see if there was something else he could do.

* * *

Leon collapsed on his bed the moment he was within reach of it. A cold sweat was settling against his skin and every muscle twitch sent a hot pain through his body. The gunblader wheezed, kicking off his boots and socks and jacket. Gritting his teeth, he curled up on the blankets, too exhausted to crawl under them.

Aerith and Yuffie were worried, having seeing him back so early from sparring. Yuffie had to be dragged off by a very worried Aerith after Leon had threatened to stab her if she kept talking.

He was so tired all of a sudden. It freaked him out. But he hadn't been feeling well for the past week. He'd stayed silent and fought through fatigue for so long, maybe his body just couldn't handle it anymore. No one needed to know he wasn't feeling well, though. No one should have to worry about his petty little issues, because they were so small compared to the big picture of everything happening around them. It just seemed pointless to make people worry about him.

The mercenary shivered, gritting his teeth as a sick pain tightened in his stomach. Shutting his eyes tightly, he focused on the silence of his room, hoping he could escape into some form of sleep. That's all he needed. Sleep…

* * *

Cloud knocked on Leon's door a few hours later. "Leon? Hey, food's been ready for a while."

He frowned as there was no answer. There was no way he could still be asleep. He's been in there for six hours straight. Leon never naps _that_ long (no, he didn't purposely stalk the mercenary's aggravating sleeping habits. It just so happened he noticed that the lion-hearted man slept for an hour, got up for twenty minutes to do something or another, before going back to sleep again to repeat the process)

He knocked again, and sighed. "I'm coming in, Leon." he muttered, for mere politeness, and opened the door. The blond narrowed his eyes to the dark, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness of the gunblader's room. He blinked, noticing how carelessly everything was strewn about. Leon was usually very clean and organized…

"Hey, Le'? You okay?" he walked in, looking around before his eyes fell upon Leon's curled up figure on the bed. Cloud tilted his head, golden hair falling in his face as he stepped over to him. "Le', you awake?"

Leon didn't move, which was surprising, considering he was usually a light sleeper unless he was having a nightmare. Then he was near impossible to wake up.

Cloud blinked again, frowning. "Leonhart, you'd better not be acting." he lowered his hand against his friend's arm and pulled back at the heat radiating off him. "Whoa." he turned on a nearby lamp to get a better look. His impassive expression turned into a worried one.

Leon was shaking with imaginary cold; cheeks flushed red and sweat dripping down his face. His breath was shallow and rapid, pain etched onto his paled face.

The ex-SOLDIER furrowed his brow, pressing a hand against the SeeD's forehead. His scowl deepened at how hot the skin was against his palm. "Leon…" he sighed.

With a grunt he stood straight, pulling the cool sheet over his friend. "I'll be right back, Leon. Don't worry, I'll try to help you." he slipped out of the room, sighing slightly. _Idiot… if you've been ill then why not tell me? We're friends, right?_

* * *

Leon shifted uncomfortably, lying on his back.

_Damn it… it hurts… Where'd Cloud go…? …that was him, right…?_

His head pounded like a hammer was being beat against his skull. And why was it so damn cold? This sheet wasn't enough…

He let out a groan, body trembling with the small sound. How long ago has it been since he last felt so terrible? The brunet couldn't even remember. But then again, he remembered Irvine taking care of him… but maybe he had dreamt those times, because they were rather blurry in his memory. Whatever.

Leon stiffened as someone came beside him again and interrupted his thoughts. He strained to hear words the person was saying to him, only catching the occasional syllable. He groaned again as he was pulled into a sitting position, and blinked his heavy eyes open to figure out who it was. The flash of golden blond told him Cloud.

"…Cl…" he rasped, eyes squinting against the blurry shapes in his room.

"Yeah. It's me, relax, Leonhart."

A prick of annoyance prodded at him at 'Leonhart'. Cloud just loved to make it known he didn't like how he hid his name away… but before he could move, Leon felt Cloud's cool hand rest on his shoulder as he sat down half beside him and half behind him. The gunblader blinked as he noted the blond was propping him up with his own body. A warm mug was pressed against his lips, its contents smelling of herbs and heat.

"Drink. It'll help. I promise."

The brunet leaned back against Cloud, surprised at the gentle worry in his tone.

Weird… he only sounded like this when he was talking about that Zack guy in his sleep… (and no, Leon didn't watch Cloud sleep. Usually he was the one who had to wake up the angsty ex-SOLDIER if he was having nightmares - and he constantly spoke of a 'Zack')

Nodding slightly, he took a hesitant sip of the tea. The hot mixture soothed his throat, ushering out a relieved little sigh from his mouth. He opened his eyes slightly, pressing his head back against Cloud's right shoulder.

"Feel a little better?" the blond asked quietly. At getting another nod, he smiled slightly. "Good. That's good." he gently wrapped his free arm around the quivering form leaning on him, attempting to calm a small portion of his discomfort.

Leon shifted, gazing at him blearily from the corner of his hazy steel-blue eyes. He inhaled shakily, eyes drifting shut as Cloud pressed a cool cloth against his forehead. "…th… thank…" he trailed off, breath catching in his throat. Dammit. That was weak.

"Hush. Don't talk, Leon. Focus on breathing and relax." the blond ordered softly, letting him take another sip of the tea. He gazed at him, slightly mesmerized at the exhausted determination in the other's eyes. Even with this much pain, he was still fighting to overcome it. It was rather surprising.

Leon wheezed, a tiny grunt of effort escaping him as he struggled to sit up by himself. Cloud helped him, keeping a strong hand on the brunet's shoulder. He gulped, a shaky hand trying to clear his blurry sight, before he fell back against the solid figure behind him.

"See, relax. Idiot."

The gunblader frowned slightly, coughing heavily and shivering. "…I don' feel well…" he admitted, sounding like a child.

"Yeah, I can tell… you don't know how to deal with illness, huh?"

"…nuh-uh…"

Cloud chuckled a bit at his childlike reply. "Well, maybe you shouldn't try to hide it so much…"

Leon winced slightly. "…no one need to… worry 'bout me…"

"Come on, Leon… _you_ worry about everyone and take care of everyone, right?" Cloud paused to acknowledge the nod the other gave him. "Sometimes, you need to be the one taken care of, though. I mean, I've even learned that, Leon, and I can be as stubborn as you. You don't have to hide things from us. We're your friends."

The brunet gazed up at Cloud, breath soft and slightly pained. He thought for a long moment, storm-grey eyes drifting shut as he did so. "…okay…"

Cloud blinked in reply, slightly surprised at the quiet, defeated response. Wasn't he going to put up more of an argument? He always did. He must be feeling terrible if he was giving in like that.

"Cloud…? …M'ybe… can you… take care of me…? "

He laughed quietly at the delirious question, brushing his hand through Leon's soft hair soothingly. If he was going to have help, it'd be on his own terms, apparently. That pride of his was definitely admirable. "Yeah, Leonhart. I'll take care of you."

Leon let out a quiet breath of relief before allowing himself to fall back asleep. Cloud, on the other hand, stayed awake, pulling the gunblader close to his chest. He hummed quietly, gazing down at the brunet in his arms in a slightly protective manner.

"Don't you worry. I'll take care of you, Leonhart."


End file.
